Barça regain the lead thanks to an incapable Atlético
Atlético de Madrid and Barcelona met at the Metropolitano in the first big game of the year in the Spanish league after the World Cup in Qatar. And after Real Madrid made life difficult for themselves against Villarreal in a match that showed that the hands in the box issue is a clamour and needs someone to put some sanity into it.
Simeone's Atlético is dissolving like a sugar cube and there is hardly anything left of that hard-fighting, but gritty team that didn't concede goals, had a game plan to stand up to the opposition and solve games. Now they do almost all of that, but they no longer win and are beginning to look dangerously like the team that Gregorio Manzano left 10 years ago.
Griezmann's pink hair and Correa's silver hair do not help a club where the owner wants to sell as soon as possible, the radicals dominate more than it seems and the coach is already thinking about the end of the cycle.
Dembélé scored the only goal in the 22nd minute from Gavi's pass, although the value of the play was in the Atletico defence with a long corridor to Pedri who entered the area with the ball under control and unchallenged.
That flag stung the team, who then remembered that Betis had won, as had Real Sociedad and even Villarreal, and that if they lost that game they would finish fifth, 14 points behind Barça. And they could even finish sixth if Athletic beat Osasuna in the last game of the day.
La Liga for Simeone's team is going to last forever. No Champions League and no Europa League. Nor without the Arabian Super Cup, which could provide some incentive. They only have the Copa del Rey against Levante to make up for this inevitable end of the season.
That goal made them wake up and dominate the match. Griezmann and Correa appeared more, Morata had a few chances even though he wasn't a starter and Joao Felix is still being pushed to leave the club with a system of play where he hardly plays a role.
Xavi's Barça is a shot in the dark. Although their coach insists on seeing the goodness in his team's play, the cup game against Inter City was a ridiculous embarrassment and that was enough to save their clothes at the Metropolitano.
Having been an excellent midfielder does not make you a good coach. Guardiola's shadow is too long and Xavi's mood is not the same. Barça gave the ball to Atleti and closed down in their own half. That, in another life, would have been an embarrassment for Xavi, who would have preferred defeat to playing like that. Not now. Now he values the three points more than the game and closes ranks with his team.
Araújo saved the equaliser on the line and Ferran Torres gained a few minutes on the clock with a shameful fight with Savic that ended with both players being sent off. Correa could also have been sent off, but he was saved by his lack of accuracy and the fact that the ball didn't end up crashing into the assistant. History repeats itself years after Arda Turán, in the stands of the Metropolitano, by the way, also failed to hit the referee with his boot.
A lot of intensity and few goals for two teams with very different objectives. Atlético de Madrid will try to finish the season with dignity. Barça will continue to activate levers to compete with Real Madrid for the league while they play for prestige in the second European competition.
